Attachment for needle loom



April 16, 1968 c. .1. VASLET ATTACHMENT FOR NEEDLE LOOM 4 Sheets-Sheet 1Filed May 10, 1967 PIC-3.1

PIC-3.3

INVENTOR. CHARLES J. VASLET ATTORNEYS April 16, 1968 c. J. VASLETATTACHMENT FOR NEEDLE LOOM 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May 10, 1967 FIG.6A

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W In w m ll W n I [1 u .n l W H M 1 H I: 6 I: 4 8 .L a l m C. J. VASLETApril 1 6, 1968 ATTACHMENT FOR NEEDLE LOOM 4 Sheets-Sheet Filed May 10,1967 1 N VEN TOR. CHARLES J. VASLET ATTORNEYS April 16, 1968 c. J.VASLET ATTACHMENT FOR NEEDLE LOOM 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed May 10, 1967 I\"VEV'IYJR. CHARLES J. VASLET ATTORNEYS United States Patent 0 3,378,939ATTACHMENT FQR NEEDLE 1.09M Charles J. Vaslet, Coventry, KL, assignor,by mesne assignments, to Bonas Bros. Weavernatic Looms (England) Ltd.,Sunderland, England, a corporation of Great Britain Continuation-in-partof application Ser. No. 577,276,

Sept. 6, 1966. This application May 10, 1967, Ser.

15 Claims. (Cl. 139118) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A needle loom weavestape, and has a latch needle and a filler needle instead of a shuttle.The present improvement is an attachment to produce ornamental loopsalong one edge of the tape in a repeat pattern which is independent ofthe harnesses. An edge Wire is moved by a cam and cam follower am toproduce the loops. A plurality of collateral edge Wires may be disposedat different distances from the tape edge, to produce loops of differentlengths, each wire being operated by its own cam. Thus, as an example,three wires may be used to produce in sequence some short loops, somemedium loops, some long loops, some medium loops and some short loops,for a scalloped edge.

The present application is a continuation-in-part of my application Ser.No. 577,276, filed Sept. 6, 1966, now abandoned, and having the sametitle.

Background of the invention One type of loom for making tape or narrowfabric is a so-called needle loom which has the usual harnesses for thewarp thread, but has a relatively long insertion needle instead of ashuttle for the weft thread, the thread being caught at the far edge ofthe tape by a latch needle, much as in a knitting machine. This edge maybe considered to be a knitted edge, whereas the other edge at which theinsertion needle is operated is a woven edge.

It is sometimes desired to ornament the edge of the tape typically withintermittent groups of loops of weft thread, called picot loops.Heretofore such loops have been provided by means of an edge wire whichpasses through the harnesses and is disposed adjacent one edge of thefabric at the path of travel of the insertion needle. This edge wire isreciprocated up and down or vertically across the path of travel of theinsertion needle, thereby providing a picot loop for each movement ofthe edge wire.

Heretofore the edge wire was moved by connection to one of theharnesses. This limits the repeat pattern to the number of picks (weftinsertions) in which the harness motion repeats. If the harness is thusused for the weave and also for the edge wire, the design or pattern forthe picot loops is limited by the weave pattern.

The general object of the present invention is to overcome the foregoingdifficulties. A more specific object is to provide an attachment for theneedle loom which oper ates an edge wire independently of the harnesses.Moreover, a considerable gear reduction may be provided between the reedshaft and the attachment shaft, thus providing a larger repeat pattern.

A further object is to provide an attachment which operates a pluralityof edge wires each at different spacing from the edge of the tape toproduce loops of different length, there being a cam for each edge wire,for operation independently of the harnesses and of one another.

Patented Apr. 15, i358 ice Szmzmaly of the invention The attachment hasa relatively slow speed attachment shaft driven by reduction gearingfrom the loom shaft. An edge wire is disposed near but spaced from theedge of the narrow fabric or tape adjacent the path of the insertion orfiller needle. There is a means driven by the attachment shaft to movethe edge wire laterally across the path of travel of the filler needle,this means preferably being a cam and cam follower. In more advancedform there are a plurality of edge wires disposed at different spacingdistances from the edge of the tape in order to produce loops ofdifferent lengths. These wires pass between different dents of the reedin order to maintain the desired different spacing distances. Theattachment shaft has a plurality of cams, one for each edge wire. Onecam is operative to form loops, while the other cams are inoperative. Inthis way different ornamental edges may be produced. For example,scallops may be formed by using, in sequence, some short, medium, long,medium and short loops.

To accomplish the foregoing general objects and other more specificobjects which will hereinafter appear, my invention resides in theneedle loom and the attachment elements and their relation one toanother, as are hereinafter more particularly described in the followingspecification. The specification is accompanied by drawings in which:

FIG. 1 shows a fragment of tape or narrow fabric provided with picotloops along one edge;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a needle loom provided with theattachment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary front elevation of the harnesses, showing thelocation of the edge wire relative to the harnesses;

FIG. 4 is a schematic vertical elevation explanatory of the invention;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary plan view at the oscillatable insertion needle;

FIG. 6 is a vertical section taken approximately on the line 66 of FIG.7 and showing the mechanism in the attachment;

FIG. 6A is explanatory of a detail;

FIG. 7 is a plan view of the mechanism in the attachment;

FIG. 8 represents a modified cam which produces the same action as thatshown in FIG. 6;

1G. 9 shows a cam producing two groups of three loops each in onerevolution of the cam;

FIG. 10 illustrates the use of three wires to produce a scalloped edge;

FIG. 11 is an elevation showing an attachment with increased gearreduction and suitable to produce the tape of FIG. 10;

FIG. 12 is a plan view of the attachment shown in FIG. 11 provided withthree cams to operate three edge wires;

FiG. 13 shows a cam for producing the short loops, and is takenapproximately on the line 13-13 of FIG. 12;

FIG. 14 shows a cam for producing the medium loops, and is taken on theline 14-14 of FIG. 12;

FIG. 15 shows a cam for producing the long loops;

FIG. 16 is a fragmentary elevation showing the reedoscillatingmechanism;

FIG. 17 is a fragmentary section taken approximately on the line 17-47of FIG. 16;

FIG. 18 is a fragmentary elevation showing three edge wire assembliespassing through a clear space in the harnesses; and

FIG. 19 is a schematic elevation explanatory of the mechanism.

Referring to FIG. 1 of the drawing, the narrow fabric or tape 12 isbeing woven in a needle loom. It comprises Warp threads 14 and a weft orfiller thread 16. The edge 18 is a woven edge, and is ornamented bygroups of loops of weft thread, sometimes called picot loops, indicatedat 20. The opposite edge 22 of the tape is produced with the aid of alatch needle and is sometimes referred to as a knitted edge.

Referring now to FIG. 2, the particular machine here illustrated is aneedle loom of the type made by Crompton and Knowles Corporation ofWorcester, Mass. The particular machine is a double machine, it beingsymmetrical from side to side and producing two narrow fabrics or tapeswhich are delivered at 24 and 26. The usual upright bins resting on thefloor for receiving the tapes have been omitted.

The two sets of warp threads indicated at 28 come from a rack of spools,not shown, and they are arranged in parallel formation by a drum 30.They then pass through harnesses indicated at 32. For simplicity theharnesses 32 are shown aligned or in mid position but it will beunderstood that except at the illustrated instant of crossover,alternate harnesses are raised while the intermediate harnesses arelowered, in order to put the warp threads in shed formation, ready toreceive the insertion needle and weft thread.

The spool of weft or filler thread for the nearer tape is shown at 34,and that for the further tape is shown at 36. The weft thread 50 is ledto an insertion needle or filler needle 54 which is oscillated in ahorizontal path of travel by an oscillatable arm 56 driven by linkageshown at 44. One main shaft of the loom is located at 46, and theso-called reed shaft is indicated at 43. The latter turns in one-to-oneratio with the operation of the insertion needle 54.

Referring to FIG. 5, the weft thread 50 is guided by a fixed eye 52 tothe insertion needle 54 which is carried by an oscillatable arm orneedle carrier 56. The needle 54 moves through the shed of warp threads58, as is illustrated by the change from the solid line position to thebroken line position. This carries the weft thread to the left side ofthe tape 12, whereupon it is hooked up by a latch needle, not shown, andthe insertion needle 54 is retracted. The harnesses then change theshed, and the insertion needle makes another traverse with the weftthread. The wefts then are double threads. The advantage of this type ofloom is its elimination of a shuttle and bobbin, and its very high speedoperation, which may be at say 2200 insertions per minute.

Reverting to FIG. 2, it will also be understood that there is an arm 56or carrier with an insertion needle 54 on each side of the machine, forweaving the two tapes 24 and 26. The harnesses 32 are wide enough toprovide heddles for both sets of warp threads.

The picot loops 20 (FIG. 1) are formed by means of an attachmentgenerally designated 69 (FIG. 2) and having a relatively slow speedattachment shaft indicated at 61 in FIGS. 6 and 7. There is reductiongearing between the reed shaft 48 (FIG. 2) and the attachment shaft. Anedge wire 62 (FIGS. 3, 4 and 5) is disposed collaterally of the edge ofthe tape adjacent the path of the insertion needle 54, and the said wireis reciprocated vertically across the path of travel of the insertionneedle. As viewed in FIG. 4 the edge wire 62 moves up and down between aposition just above the needle path, here shown in solid lines, and aposition 62 just below the needle path which is shown in broken lines.This is done while the insertion needle is retracted and it will be seenthat this will form a loop of weft thread at the edge of the tape.

FIG. 3 shows how the edge wire 62 preferably passes through theharnesses 32 and 32' between an endmost heddle 64 and its harness 32.The adjacent harness 32' is shown in lowered position, while harness 32is in raised position, so that the warp threads passing through the eyes66 and 68 of the heddles will be put in shed formation, whereas the edgewire 62 remains close to mid position, although it does move up and downenough to clear the insertion needle and to form a loop resulting fromoscillation of the insertion needle. Only two harnesses are shown inFIG. 3, but there may be four or more, and the edge wire passes throughall of them.

The mechanism of the attachment may be described in greater detail withreference to FIGS. 6 and 7 of the drawing. The housing'carries theattachment shaft 61, which in turn carries a pattern cam 70. In thiscase the cam surface is a groove 72 and is formed in one face of thecam. There is a cam follower arm 74, pivoted at 76, and carrying a camroller 78 received in the cam groove 72. Arm 74 carries an edge wireholder 80 only one end of which is shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, it beingunderstood that this is a stiff rod (say one-eighth inch diameter) whichextends to the left as viewed in the drawing, and extends to but notthrough the harness frames as shown at 80, 62 in FIG. 3. The edge wireitself may be a piece of resilient steel piano wire 0.028 in size. Thiswire passes through the harness frames.

Its working end is plain or pointed, and its opposite end is passedthrough an eye and extended from the end of the edge wire holder 8i).

One way in which this may be done is shown in FIG. 6A, in which the endof the rod or wire holder 80 has a thin vertical hole through which thewire 62 is passed downward to its rear end, at which a loop 63 ispreliminarily bent and twisted. The wire 62 then is bent forward asshown, so that it becomes an extension of the rod 80. This wire 62 mayhave a length of say six inches, and its free end extends through thepicot loops for an appreciable distance, say an inch or two, as isindicated in FIG. 5. Its up and down motion is therefore limited by theloops themselves, but it is resilient and readily bendable, andtherefore the driving mechanism may tend to move it an appreciabledistance, say threequarters of an inch above and below center line, butthe actual motion at the insertion needle is small, being limited by theloops, but it is enough to easily clear the insertion needle as itpasses above or below the edge wire.

The rod 80 may be considered an extension of the edge wire 62, or anextension of the arm 74, but a more general description would be thatthe edge wire and rod and arm all form an edge wire assembly whichpasses through the harnesses and which is actuated by the cam.

Attachment shaft 61 (FIGS. 6 and 7) is driven by reduction gearing, andin the present case carries a gear 82 meshing with a pinion 84 on anintermediate shaft 86. The outer end of shaft 86 carries a timing pulley88.

Referring now to FIG. 2, timing pulley 88 is driven by a timing belt 90,and a driving pulley 92, which is carried on the reed shaft 48previously mentioned. The timing pulley drive is positive, and in thepresent case provides a four-to-one reduction. Also in the present casethe gear reduction at 84, 82 is a four-to-one reduction, given a totalspeed reduction of sixteen-to-one, that is, the pattern cam of theattachment turns once for each sixteen picks or oscillations of theinsertion needle.

Reverting to FIG. 6, the particular pattern cam here shown has threerises and falls, indicated at 94, which occupy three-eighths of the cam,and which'provide six loops out of the sixteen picks.

FIG. 4 is a schematic view showing how the warp threads are put intoshed formation at 100 and 102, by the raised and lowered heddles 104 and106. These heddles are for the basic or ground weave. There areadditional heddles and harnesses (not shown) for producing a pattern orpile surface on the fabric. FIG. 4 also shows how attachment 69 carriescam follower arm 74 and Wire holder and edge Wire 62. It further showshow the edge wire 62 moves between its raised solid line position 62,and its lowered broken line position 62', above and below the path ofthe insertion needle 54. The feed of the finished tape is indicated at110. The holder 80 preferably stops short of the harness frames, ratherthan passing through as suggested in FIG. 4.

In FIG. 7 only the sidewalls of the attachment housing are indicated at112, and they carry fixed bearings 114 for the shafts 61 and 86. Thebearings are preferably antifriction bearings, because the needle loomoperates at very high speed. It will also be understood that there isanother attachment like the attachment 60 at the other side of the loom,when the loom is weaving two strands as here illustrated, and if bothtapes are to be provided with pivot loops. It will also be understoodthat a greater gear reduction may be provided, in which case the repeatpattern of the picot loops may repeat at a number greater than sixteen.

The cam groove 72 shown in FIG. 6 is mostly of reduced radius, withraised parts 94, and it will be understood that the first rise producesone loop, the succeeding drop produces a second loop, the next riseproduces a third loop, and so on. With three rises and drops as shown inFIG. 6 there will be six loops in sixteen picks. Another way to describeit is to say that there is a double weft in each shed, and that thereare three double loops. A rise and a drop produces a double loop.

The same result may be obtained using a cam of large diameter and withthree cam drops instead of three rises, as shown schematically in FIG.8. Here again there will be six loops or three double loops in sixteenpicks, and the only difierence in operation is that in FIG. 6 the edgewire, when inoperative for ten picks, is in its lowered position beneaththe path of the insertion needle 54, as shown in broken lines at 62' inFIG. 4, whereas with the cam of FIG. 8 the edge wire 62, when idle forten picks, would be in the raised position shown in solid lines at 62 inFIG. 4, above the path of the insertion needle 54.

It will be understood that any desired even number of loops may beprovided, say two, four or eight, instead of six as here illustrated. Itwill also be understood that several groups of loops may be provided inone rotation of the cam, there then being a sequence of say two loops,six picks without loops, another two loops, and six picks without loops,making up sixteen picks in all.

When working with two groups of loops each group may have an odd number,because the total still is an even number. Thus, referring to FIG. 9,the cam 131 would produce two groups of three loops each, there beingtwo rises and one drop at 132 for three loops, and two drops and onerise at 134 for another three loops. The edge wire then would be idle inits raised position for five picks at 136 where the cam is of largeradius, and it would be idle in its down position for another five picksat 138 where the cam is of small radius.

The method of forming a different ornamental edge, for example ascalloped edge, may be described with reference to FIG. 10. In this caseit is the left tape that is being worked on, that is, the tape 24 inFIG. 2. Three edge wires 142, 144 and 146 are disposed at progressivelyincreased spacing from the outer edge 148 of the tape, this spacingbeing determined and maintained by the reed 150. FIG. 17 also shows howthe edge wires 142, 144 and 146 pass between different dents of the reed150 to establish the spacing of the edge wires, and thus the lengths ofthe loops produced thereby. The warp threads passing through the reed150 are suggested in broken lines at 152, and their spacing ordinarilyis much closer than the spacing between the edge wires.

Reverting to FIG. 10, it will be seen that in the present case there aretwo short loops 154 followed by two medium loops 156, followed by fivelong loops 158, followed by two medium loops 1611, followed by two shortloops 162. Each loop corresponds to two filler threads or picks, thatis, they are really double loops using two threads, and in the presentcase there are then six picks indicated at 148 without loops, making upthirty-two picks in all for each repeat pattern. The weft or fillerthread is shown at 164, it passing through the eye of filler needle 166,which, as before, is carried by a filler arm or carrier (not shown)which moves in and out of the shed, as previously described inconnection with FIG. 5. At its inside position the filler needle engagesa latch needle, not shown.

FIG. 10 also shows how the forward or free ends of the edge wires extendthrough the already formed loops, and indeed, as is common with edgewires they may extend in this fashion for many inches. The edge Wire 146passes through only the long loops 158. The edge wire 144 passes throughboth the medium and long loops, and the edge wire 142 passes through allof the loops.

Referring now to FIGS. 11 and 12, the timing pulley corresponds to thepulley 88 in FIG. 7, it being driven by a timing belt from the reedshaft shown at 48 in FIGS. 2, 16, and 19. Pulley 170' drives a shaft 172carrying a. pinion 174 meshing with a gear 176, secured to a pinion 178,which meshes with a gear on the main attachment shaft or cam shaft 181.In the particular case shown the timing pulleys provide a reduction offour to one, and the gearing provides a reduction of eight to one,making a total reduction of thirty-two to one.

The carn shaft 181 carries three cams 182, 184 and 186. Cam 182 engagesa cam roller 188 on a carrier pivoted at 191. This carries a camfollower rod 192. The cams 184 and 186 similarly operate cam followerrods 194 and 196. The rods may be appropriately bent sideward to bringthem into close spacing, as suggested at the left of FIG. 12.

Separate cam discs can be used for each cam groove, but in the presentcase, the cam grooves 184 and 186 are formed on opposite faces of asingle cam disc. The relation between cam 182, cam roller 188, and itscarrier 196 is also shown in FIG. 11. This shows how carrier 190 has ahole or socket to receive one end of the cam follower rod 192, securedin place by a set screw 198. Each of the rods is bent upwardly, as shownat 2130, and has an opening or eye 202 through which the edge wire, inthis case the edge wire 142, passes. The upward bent part may beflattened and twisted for the hole 202. The cam moves the cam followerrod 192 up and down, between the solid line position 192 and the brokenline position 192', thereby moving the edge wire between the position142 and the position 142'.

The edge wires may extend rearwardly as shown, but for a longerdistance, and at their rear ends may be formed into an eye or hookindicated at 204, these eyes being tied in any convenient manner to astationary part of the loom, as indicated at 2116. In FIG. 12 separateties are shown, but in practice all three wires may be tied together.

Referring now to FIG. 13, the cam 182 has cam drops at 268 and 210 toproduce the first two short double thread loops. Referring next to FIG.14, the cam 184 has drops at 212 and 214 to produce two medium lengthdouble thread loops immediately following the two short loops. It may benoted in FIGS. 13, 14 and 15 that the cams have keyways which aredisposed upward, for aligned position, and that the drops 212 and 214 inFIG. 14- follow the drops 268 and 210 in FIG. 13. In FIG. 15 the cam 186has five drops 216, 218, 220, 222 and 224, which produce five longdouble thread loops immediately following the two medium loops.Reverting next to FIG. 14, the cam drops 226 and 228 produce two mediumdouble thread loops immediately following the five long loops. Revertingnow to FIG. 13, the cam drops 230 and 232 produce two short doublethread loops immediately following the two medium loops. At 234 the cam182 is of uniform radius, and at this time all of the edge wires are inraised position out of the path of the filler needle,

7 and are therefore inoperative. This provides the space between loopsshown at 148 in FIG. 10.

In the loom here shown, the reed 150 (FIG. 16) is carried by a reedholder 236, which is oscillated by an eccentric 238 on the reed shaft48. The reed holder is extended downward at 240 and is connected to adrag link 242 which is pivoted on the machine frame at 244. The reed isthus given an oscillatory motion, it being moved to the right when thefiller needle is moved into the shed, and it being moved to the leftwhen the filler needle is retracted, the reed then serving to press thelast filler threads into the fell.

The harnesses then reverse the shed. In FIG. 16, the shed of warpthreads is suggested at 246, 248, and the edge Wires are suggested at142 and 144. FIG. 17 shows how the edge wires pass through spacesbetween dents of the reed, to maintain a desired spacing from the edgeof the tape, the warp threads being suggested at 152.

FIG. 18 corresponds to FIG. 3, previously described, and shows raisedand lowered harnesses 250 and 252, with raised and lowered heddles 254and 256 to produce the shed. They further show the clear space outsidethe endrnost heddle where the three edge wires are located, these beingmoved by the three cam follower rods 192, 194 and 196.

Referring now to FIG. 19, reed shaft 48 oscillates reed 150, and alsothrough timing belt 258 drives timing pulley 170, which through gearreduction previously described, drives the slow speed cam shaft 181. Theraised and lowered harnesses are indicated at 250 and 252, producing ashed of warp threads suggested at 246, 248. This is for the groundweave. In practice there are two or more additional harnesses to makepossible variations in the appearance of the body of the tape. A camfollower rod is shown at 192 in raised position, it raising the edgewire 142. In its down position it would move the edge wire to the dottedline position 142'. It will be understood that the edge wires may beseveral feet in length, the left or forward ends passing through thereed 150 and through a considerable length of the already formed loops,while the rear ends of the edge wires are simply tied together and toany convenient part-of the loom'as indicated at 206, to hold themagainst moving forward with the tape.

The upward extension 390 (FIG. 11) of the flattened cam follower rod 192is used for all three rods. This avoids mutual interference which mightotherwise occur because the rods are so close to one another.

In FIG. 19 the cam follower rods are shown turned upward behind theharnesses. Alternatively the cam follower rods may pass through theharnesses. This depends on the length of the cam follower rods and thelocation of the mounting of the attachment on the loom and other suchfactors. Either arrangement is usable.

To form the same scalloped edge on both tapes when using a double loom,as shown in FIG. 2, one might use two complete attachments, but it issimpler to provide three additional rods, generally like the left endsof the rods 192, 194 and 196 shown in FIG. 12, these being bent sidewardwith a drop and rise, and being welded to respective ones of the threearms shown in FIG. 12. Thus, each arm acts as a double arm withoutrequiring duplication of the cams and cam rollers. In such case theattachment housing shown in FIGS. 11 and 12 may underlie the warpthreads for both tapes, thus providing ample room for the attachmenthousing. The drop and rise referred to is simply a downward bend toavoid interference between one double rod and another double rod wherethey cross one another.

In the particular example shown in FIGS. 13, 14 and 15, the angleoccupied by a cam drop from top to bottom is 11 degrees 15 minutes. InFIG. 13 the'first cam drop starts at zero degrees, considering thekeyway to be zero, and reckoning in clockwise direction. The clear spaceor uniform radius distance at 234 going in counterclockwise direction is67 degrees 30 minutes.

In FIG. 14 the first cam drop starts at 45 degrees going in clockwisedirection. The clear space between the two sets of cam drops occupies112 degrees 30 minutes. In FIG. 15 the first cam drop starts at degrees,going in clockwise direction. These values are given by way of example,and not in limitation of the invention.

In addition to proper orientation of the cams relative to one another onthe keyed shaft, they also must be in proper relation as well as insynchronism to the rest of the machine, so that a change of wireposition takes place while the filler needle is retracted. It is forthat reason that the drive of the attachment must be a positive one, asby use of a timing belt and timing pulleys, shown at 90 in FIG. 2, andat 258 in FIG. 19.

As will be readily understood by those familiar with this art, thesingle edge wire for producing picot loops described in connection withFIGS. 1 through 7, may be constructed and used in the same fashion asdescribed for the three wires, that is, its left end passes through thereed and through many of the previously formed loops, as was shown inFIG. 5, but in FIGS. 4 and 5 the reed and the mechanism to oscillate thesame were omitted in order to simplify the drawing. Also the edge wireafter passing through an eye or opening in the cam follower rod, may andpreferably does extend rearward to be tied to a convenient part of theloom, as shown in FIG. 19, instead of terminating at the cam followerrod as suggested in FIG. 6A. The wire then may be several feet long.

It is believed that the construction and method of use of my improvedattachment for a needle loom, as well as as the advantages thereof, willbe apparent from the fore going detailed description. The attachmentmakes it pos sible to provide an ornamental edge, typically picot loops,without using any of the harnesses for that purpose. This makes forgreater flexibility as between the loop pattern and the weave pattern.Moreover, the number of picks available before repeating the picot looppattern may be greatly increased, by using an appropriate amount of gearreduction between the reed shaft and the attachment shaft carrying thepattern cam of the attachment.

By using a plurality of edge wires disposed at different distances fromthe edge of the tape, the ornamental loops may be of different lengths,thereby producing a more elaborate ornamentation, for example, ascalloped edge.

It will be apparent that while I have shown and de scribed the inventionin a preferred form, changes may be made without departing from thescope of the inven tion, as sought to be defined in the followingclaims.

I claim:

1. An attachment for a narrow fabric needle loom having harnesses forwarp threads, an insertion needle for a weft thread, and means includinga loom shaft to drive the insertion needle and the harnesses, saidattachment serving to produce an ornamental edge in a desired repeatpattern along one edge of the narrow fabric, and comprising a relativelyslow speed attachment shaft, redum tion gearing between said loom shaftand said attachment shaft, an edge wire disposed near but spaced fromthe edge of the fabric adjacent the path of the insertion needle, andmeans driven by said attachment shaft to reciprocate said edge wirevertically across the path of travel of said insertion needle.

2. An attachment for a needle loom as defined in claim 1, in which theedge wire assembly passes through the harnesses near one edge of theharnesses in a space between each endmost heddle and its harness.

3. A attachment for a needle loom as defined in claim 1, in which theedge wire, considered from front to rear, passes through already madeedge loops, and next passes through the reed of the loom in order tomaintain the desired spacing of the edge wire from the edge of the tape,and next passes through the eye of a cam follower arm, and at its rearend is tied to a part of the loom to hold the wire against forwardmovement. V

4. An attachment for a needle loorn as defined in claim 1, in which theattachment comprises a cam defining the ornamental edge pattern anddriven by the attachment shaft, a cam follower arm carrying a cam rollerengaging said cam, and means operatively connecting said edge wire tosaid cam follower arm for actuation thereby.

5. An attachment for a needle loom as defined in claim 4, in which thearm and edge wire assembly passes through the harnesses near one edge ofthe harnesses in a space between each endmost heddle and its harness.

6. An attachment for a needle loom as defined in claim 4, in which thereduction gearing between the loom shaft and the attachment shaftcomprises a timing belt and pulleys providing a four-toone reduction,and a pinion and gear in the attachment driven by said timing belt andproviding an additional four-to-one reduction, whereby the ornamentaledge pattern repeats after sixteen picks.

7. An attachment for a needle loom as defined in claim 4, in which theedge wire, considered from front to rear, passes through already madeedge loops, and next passes through the reed of the loom in order tomaintain the desired spacing of the edge wire from the edge of the tape,and next passes through the eye of a cam follower arm, and at its rearend is tied to a part of the loom to hold the wire against forwardmovement.

8. An attachment for a needle loom as defined in claim 7, in which thereare a plurality of edge wires disposed at different spacing distancesfrom the edge of the tape in order to produce loops of differentlengths, said wires passing between different dents of the reed of theloom in order to maintain the desired different spacing distances, andin which there is a cam and cam follower arm for each wire, one of saidcams being operative to cause the formation of loops while the other camor cams are inoperative to cause the formation of loops, the forward endof an edge wire which is spaced further from the tape passing throughthe longer loops, and the forward end of an edge wire nearer the edge ofthe tape passing through both longer and shorter loops.

9. An attachment for a needle loom as defined in claim 4, in which thereare a plurality of edge wires disposed at different spacing distancesfrom the edge of the tape in order to produce loops of differentlengths, said wires passing between different dents of the reed of theloom in order to maintain the desired different spacing distances, andin which there is a cam and cam follower arm for each wire, one of saidcams being operative to cause the formation of loops while the other camor cams are inoperative to cause the formation of loops, the forward endof an edge wire which is spaced further from the tape passing throughthe longer loops, and the forward end of an edge wire nearer the edge ofthe tape passing through both longer and shorter loops.

10. An attachment for a needle loom as defined in claim 9, in whichthere are three edge wires for respectively producing short, medium andlong loops, and in which the cams are so shaped and so related as toproduce in sequence some short loops, some medium loops, some longloops, some medium loops, and some short loops, whereby the tape isornamented with a scalloped edge.

loom shaft and the attachment shaft comprises a timing a belt andpulleys prividing a first speed reduction, and gearing in the attachmentdriven by said timing belt and providing an additional speed reduction,the total reduc tion being thirty-two-to-one, whereby the ornamentaledge pattern repeats after thirty-two picks.

13. An attachment for a needle loom as defined in claim 4, in whichthere are a plurality of edge wires disposed at different spacingdistances from the edge of the tape in order to produce loops ofdifferent lengths, and in which there is a cam and cam follower arm foreach wire, one of said cams being operative to cause the formation ofloops While the other cam or cams are inoperative to cause the formationof loops.

14. An attachment for a needle loom as defined in claim 13, in whichthere are three edge wires for respectively producing short, medium andlong loops, and in which the cams are so shaped and so related as toproduce in loops of different length in a sequence which gives a desirededge pattern.

15. An attachment for a narrow fabric needle loom having harnesses forwarp threads, an insertion needle for a weft thread, and means includinga loom shaft to drive the insertion needle and the harnesses, saidattachment serving to produce an ornamental edge in a desired repeatpattern along one edge of the narrow fabric, and comprising a relativelyslow speed attachment shaft, reduction gearing between said loom shaftand said attachment shaft, a generally horizontal wire disposed near andgenerally parallel to the edge of the fabric adjacent the path of theinsertion needle, an arm carrying said wire and disposed rearward ofsaid wire, and cam and cam follower means driven by said attachmentshaft to reciprocate said wire in a direction generally perpendicular tothe length of the wire.

References Cited UNETED STATES PATENTS 922,718 5/1969 Perry 139-1951,571,586 2/1926 Kaufmann 139-46 2,517,025 8/1950 Parker 139-1953,126,920 3/1964 Libby 139-418 3,261,361 7/1966 Power 139-1l8 FOREIGNPATENTS 102,692 3/1926 Austria. 363,268 4/ 1906 France.

HENRY S. JAUDON, Primary Examiner.

